21 Mana Element

My good mood slowly receded, and I started to seriously consider how hard I've fucked up. Should I have tried to hide my strength after all? I can see the merit to doing so, but I really don't feel like it is necessary. With my power known who in their right mind would try to hurt me? In fact, if the Gransus Kingdom lets this information leak to other countries I don't think I'd ever have to worry about a war in my lifetime. I don't feel like being used in a classical sense, but if it's just this much then I'd be fine with it.

Lily and I went off to get lunch while waiting for our next class to start. The mess hall on campus was a massive cafeteria with a single line passing through multiple food stalls. It was a shame the culinary quality of this world was so low. It's an even greater shame I have no clue how to cook. I lived off fast food in my last life, so I guess I can't really complain much. Still, I miss eating things that don't just taste like bread and gravy for every meal.

In the cafeteria every student gave Lily and I a wide berth… Every student except Sell and Mel. The two of them didn't even seem aware that they were ostracizing themselves as they sat down at the same table with us. I guess it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, having some company.

We learned that Mel's name is actually Melanie, and Sell's name is actually Selina. They've just had their nicknames for so long that everyone knows them by Sell and Mel. The two were chatty and happy to discuss mundane things with us. I asked about Sell's outfit and she went into a long discussion on proper fighting attire. It was a bit annoying, but seeing her passion for it I decided to keep my mouth shut.

James joined our table near the end of the lunch period because his swordsmanship class didn't have someone nuke the training room to let them out early. He sat down with us as if it was completely natural and started shoveling food into his mouth. He had already heard the rumors about what I did and, frankly, he didn't seem all that surprised by the whole thing.

"Calliope, is it possible for me to ever get as strong as you?" Asked Sell.

"Yes. You can grind levels off monster hordes," I replied.

My answer made everyone at the table stop eating for a moment.

"Isn't that unnaturally dangerous?" Asked Lily.

"Only if you don't know what you're doing. For now it's improbable because I can't control my strength to protect anyone, but once I master my abilities I can take all of you to level you up a few hundred times."

For some reason everyone at the table except Sell shivered at my words. The gangster girl simply grew excited.

"Didn't you have trouble with killing a pack of Devil Hounds, though?" Asked Lily.

"Ah, I really didn't want to kill them back then. They looked just like big fluffy dogs. And then when I tried to heal the puppy…" My voice tapered off a bit as I remembered everything that happened that day. "I think, so long as they look like monsters I should be fine."

To be honest she asked a good question. I know monsters don't have much mental power, but can I just honestly slaughter them to level people up? I could do it if I needed to, I think… Monsters continually spawn in areas of high mana density, so it's not like I could hunt them to extinction or anything. Still, unless it was ugly or ferocious looking I don't think I could willingly hurt something for no good reason.

Our lunch period ended and I was a bit conflicted. I know for a fact that if one of my friends is in danger I'd slaughter any number of animals to help them, but what if they were being attacked by people? Could I really incapacitate or capture one hundred bandits before a stray arrow hit James or Lily? I can't help but shudder at the thought. If I entered -Combat State- I could probably do what needs to be done.

I slapped my own cheeks and shook my head a bit. Now isn't the time to think about these things. That's something I can deal with later. Besides, what group of bandits would attack someone who can destroy a city?

The third class of the day, one we all shared, was called Obstacle Course. It was exactly like its name. We walked to the fifth training area and there, like a monolith rising from a bog, was an unholy obstacle course filled with needles and terrible traps. Did they really expect students to run through something as dangerous as that!

Our professor, after a short while, walked out of the obstacle course himself. He was a big brutish looking man with long pointy elf ears. It didn't match any common fantasy I knew. I thought elves were supposed to be lithe and limber… Why was the first elf I met in this world bigger than most bodybuilders from my past life?! If all elves look like this are even their women jacked?!

I was seriously wondering what his strength and constitution stats were. They had to be at least in the 50s. James himself had those stats in the 30s.

"Hello class, I'm Professor Rick. You can just call me Rick. Everyday in this class your only job is to try to clear the obstacle course without getting hurt. If class ends and you're still inside just pour mana into the ground and a path out will open up. Well, good luck!"

With his speech done, the professor walked over to a nearby lawn chair, opened it up, and sat down. Soon enough we could hear him softly snoring.

"What," Said one of the students. It wasn't even intoned as a question. It was a statement.

"I guess we just have to… Go through it," said James as he started walking through the entrance.

I shrugged. Then, without bothering to think much about it, I ran into the obstacle course. This decision, in hindsight, was a terrible mistake.

Just because I'm fast and strong doesn't mean I'm coordinated. It also doesn't mean I'll always have traction. Slipping in a pile of mud, I slammed headfirst into a bladed thornbush. It barely did any damage to my health, but it hurt so much! That wasn't the only diabolical trap designed for me. Time after time again I found myself floundering in strange positions due to moving too fast, or I was hanging from ropes in such a manner that I couldn't use my strength at all to get free. I often ran through walls and I destroyed a good half of the course. If I didn't have the Heaven's Demon Garb my clothes would be absolutely tattered.

I didn't even pass the course faster than James. This was a true embarrassment. As punishment, James got a light flick to the forehead. At least now he was as muddy as I was. Even in the mud, though, he continued to laugh. I guess I looked like a mess with my hair full of leaves and thorns and my entire body caked in dirt.

When the class ended, the professor -in a complete nonchalant manner- poured mana into it and the course fixed itself as if I never touched it.

"I think you've all learned a great deal about yourselves from this. Some of you are too weak and need to build up your strength. Others are too strong and need to learn control. Tomorrow, we'll use a harder course," said the professor with a laugh as he disappeared into the distance.

Every student bar James had an ugly expression on their face. James, though, couldn't stop himself from laughing. I was in a sour mood, but I already hit him once. There was no reason to risk brain damage. I don't know what I'd do if he ever got dumber.

There was a magical hose-like item at the end of the course that the students were taking turns washing themselves with. It was rather simple in design. You pour mana into it and it shoots out water in response.

When it was finally my turn I grabbed the hose and slammed my mana into it. Of course it went from an ordinary garden hose into a fireman's water cannon. I was physically lifted off the ground as the water spray knocked several students away from me. It took me a full minute for me to lower the mana output enough to get my feet back on the ground.

James, Sell, and Lily were laughing at me for it, but no one else in the class made a sound. Honestly, I started laughing with them. It was just so stupid. This was all so stupid. With a better understanding on the sensitivity of magical items, I parted with my friends and made my way to Gertrude the Healer's office.

Gertrude's office was next to a greenhouse-like building. It was a small hut-sized building with a thatched roof and clay walls. It felt rather out of place compared to the magnificent brick campus, but it did look cozy. I walked to the door and knocked with a single finger, being very careful not to break it.

"Yes yes, you're the demon girl Calliope. Come in, come in," said an old woman's voice from the other side.

I opened the door and walked into what can only be described as a gym. There were weight sets lying around the room in precarious locations and a full set of workout equipment was standing in the corner. I had only ever gone to a gym once in my past life, but I still recognized the barbells and dumbbells scattered throughout the room.

Then my eyes fell on the woman. Gertrude wasn't some tiny old lady like I expected. She was a seven foot tall woman with larger muscles than Professor Rick.

What. The. Fuck.

It seems my terrible prediction for the elf race came true. They were all super jacked muscle heads. Why didn't I remember something like this from SHO?! Now that I think about it, though, in SHO everyone's characters could be customized as they see fit. There's no way any races from the game world would look accurate to their real world counterparts. Still, this is getting a bit ridiculous.

I walked into the room and sat down at the table across from the musclebound old woman. She had a cup of tea in front of her and took a long sip.

"So you want to learn Healing magic. I'll have you know I only teach students who can out lift me!" Cried the woman as she emphasized with a flex of her muscles.

"I… I don't even. Fine. I'll outlift you," I said, finally getting my bearing.

The old woman's face twisted into a sinister smile as she walked to the back of her house and opened the door there.

"Follow me. The weights here are too small to test our maximums."

With a terrible sense of foreboding, I followed the monstrous old lady.

After a short walk we came to a golden colored weight set. The bar had two simple weights on each size, but there were no numbers listed on the thing. Gertrude walked up to it and inserted mana into the set and I saw it visibly sink into the hard brick ground.

"This weight set was enchanted to increase depending on the mana I put into it. Right now I've set it to my maximum. I'll have you know, deary, that I have almost 250 strength. I can outlift dragons. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Without even replying to her I walked up to the set and grabbed the bar with my left hand and pulled it up without much hassle. It felt like it only weighed five kilograms. I twirled it around over my head a bit before setting it down on the rack again.

"Am I qualified to learn healing magic now?" I asked in an impatient tone while meeting the shocked woman's eyes.

"Holy shit. Endyrion wasn't kidding!"

Why does every professor say something like that.

"Fine fine. You pass the initial test. Now come with me. I need to test your mana type and see your impurity levels," said the woman as she walked back to her hut of a house. I was impressed by how quickly she brushed off what had just happened. She pulled down a small stone tablet from a shelf and handed it to me.

"Pour mana into this until it breaks. Don't worry, it won't explode on you."

I did as she asked. The tablet broke after I hit the expenditure for a Journeyman Rank Skill. It turned black in color as cracks formed in a spiral pattern across the surface.

"Ah. Calliope, your mana is of the Chaos element. If you try to heal anything you'll probably just kill them. The amount of mana control needed for someone with your disposition to repair flesh is beyond what I can teach. There are no impurities, either. Your mana is almost like a raw source from an earth vein."

"So you're saying I can't learn healing magic?" I asked.

"No no. You can. I'm saying you need a level of mana control I can't help you attain to do it, though. I can give you some exercises and tools to help you, but this is something you'll need to learn on your own. I recommend practicing on fish if you ever do want to try, by the way. Don't ever insert your mana into another person. Chaos mana is too unstable," replied Gertrude.

Ah. So I've wasted my time, then. I sighed. I took the control tools she gave me, though, because they would certainly be useful. One was a toy that clicked whenever you input mana into it. The goal was to make it click as fast as possible. Of course just putting raw mana into it wouldn't suffice. The toy resonated with certain levels of mana and the levels changed constantly. It was both fantastic and annoying.

Another practice tool was a pinwheel. If you poured mana into it the blades would spin, but if you put in too much the blades would turn black. The goal of the pinwheel was to practice prolonged use of mana at certain levels. The levels could be adjusted, too, so I could practice with it for skills at every level. At high levels some professionals could even turn specific blades of the pinwheel black and make unique patterns on the spinning surface.

The last tool she gave me was a pair of boots. These boots, when mana is poured into them, tighten onto your feet. If too much is poured in, they could even crush your bones. They were considered a banned item in the kingdom because of their extreme nature, but Gertrude didn't think their maximum could even damage my feet. I agreed with her judgement. They had a bad history of being used by abusive parents when trying to raise their kids to be 'powerful' and bring honor to their family.

In the end, Gertrude did help me out a little. I suppose I should thank her sometime, even if she didn't help me get what I wanted the most. I started to make my way back to my room. Lily and James would still be in class for a while so I figured I'd clean myself up proper. The hose-off I had earlier wasn't going to cut it.

I entered my room and inside I found a letter that had been shoved under my door. The seal on it was made with wax and had the picture of a Griffin on it. It was the seal of the Gransus Kingdom.

I opened the letter and scanned its contents. The translation feature for writing wasn't really up to par, though, and a few things didn't make sense. Still, I could get an overall feel for what it was. It was an invitation to dinner at Thomas Leore Gransus's mansion.